Alumni Award

The interests students develop outside the classroom are often just as important as the ones they develop within the classroom. For this alumna, a passion for HIV and GLTBQ issues at Grinnell has led to a career supporting the HIV/AIDS community and advocating for HIV prevention.

After graduating from Grinnell with a degree in anthropology, this alumna earned a master's degree in social work from Arizona State University. In 1996, she began working with Southwest Behavioral Health Services, where she helped run the organization's HIV housing program. In 2005, she joined the Arizona Department of Health Services, where she currently works as the state's HIV Prevention Community Planning Coordinator.

Her work with HIV and GLTBQ advocacy extends well beyond her 9-to-5 workday. She has volunteered at a GLTBQ community center and has co-chaired the Central Arizona HIV Prevention Community Planning Group. She frequently participates in AIDS events and the annual World AIDS Day planning committee.

In 2007, this alumna became a founding member of a nonprofit organization, the Grand Canyon Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. This lively group appears in flamboyant dress and attitude to fulfill a mission of advocating safer sex, ministering to the community and raising money for GLTBQ and AIDS-related charities. Her classmates praise her as a terrific advocate with a generous heart.

For her two decades of working professionally, politically, and personally for HIV and AIDS issues, Grinnell is pleased to recognize Erica L. Ferguson '90.